A study was forwarded from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism discussing the relationship between vitamin D status and muscle mass and muscle fat in young women. Vitamin D insufficiency has now reached epidemic proportions and has been linked to increased body fat and decreased muscle strength. Whether vitamin D insufficiency is also related to adipose tissue infiltration in muscle is not known. The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and the degree of fat infiltration in muscle.
In the conclusion they found that vitamin D insufficiency is associated with increased fat infiltration in muscle in healthy young women.
The most important question, where does vitamin D come from?
The main source of Vitamin D is sunlight. The only other place to naturally get vitamin D is from fish. From an evolutionary standpoint, many of our ancestors might have ate a limited amount of fish, as they all did not all live near the ocean. But one thing is true about our ancestors, they spent a lot of time in the sun. Studies show that people that spend a lot of time in the sun can get ten times the amount of vitamin D we get today.
Just another reason to get outside and soak up some rays, the sun is a performance enhancer and will help with muscle mass.
5 Comments
I think you should mention that 20-30 minutes of sun is enough to get the maximal vitamin D response but you can’t get a toxic dose of vitamin D from sunlight. The synthesis simply stops when you are full. So remember sun screen, especially when going to the sea/lake or staying out all day.
I agree morten. Supplementation of Vitamin D is essential for optimal daily quantities (D3).
Nice work John, short, sweet, and to the point. Maybe my girlfriend will start taking some Vitamin D after reading that study since since she doesn’t listen to me when I tell her.
This shows a correlation between high vitamin D and lower intramuscular fat. Wouldn’t we expect healthy, good looking people to 1: be out in the sun more and 2: expose more skin to sunlight? If so, why should we not assume that this correlation points in the opposite direction suggested in the article?
Nathan,
Because muscles have VDRs (vitamin D receptors) which when stimulated by vitamin D modulate increases in transcription (though tyrosine kinase and MAPK cascades) which are growth and protein synthesis pathways.
I detail it a bit more here in part 3:
http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/10/a-closer-look-at-vitamin-d/
Remember, Vitamin D is a seco-steroid so it does have some steroidal-like effects. One of those is increased propensity for muscle mass, especially given exercise.
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